Jim guides companies, academics and scientists in strategic messaging on both digital and traditional media platforms with a focus on data, analysis and applications. An Emmy award-winning newsman, Jim spent 12 years in newsrooms ranging from small town newspapers to national broadcast and cable channels. A frequent speaker, he created the science communications program at Rutgers University and specializes in converging media strategy.

5/05/2011 @ 10:50AM6,298 views

PR Is Dead

PR, in the traditional sense, is dead. This kind of statement makes many people, especially practitioners, very nervous. It shouldn’t. Most people who have been keeping up with the trends over the last few years already “sort of” knew this, but let’s put it out there in concrete terms. It’s time to mourn the passing and celebrate the future.

The future is a still-being-defined conglomeration of public relations, digital strategy, media relations, marketing and what we will call “direct engagement,” which includes everything from formal conferences to working sessions to webinars. My colleagues and I have been working hard on how to conceptualize this new trend – we call it Connected CommunicationsSM

Think about how you are reading this right now. Most are likely viewing on a computer screen while a growing number of people are reading on a mobile or tablet device. A few others may print out this article and share it. It’s a form of media consumption that was experimental a few years ago and non-existent when my firm, Stern + Associates, opened its doors 25 years ago.

We’ve all heard the song-and-dance about new media, so I’m not going to dive into it here. Catch phrases like “the world is changing” are already overused. The truth is that most of these changes have merely impacted the syndication of a good message and the different audiences it can reach. When it comes to your company, the actual message is still king.

So – if the message is king, then why am I claiming that PR is dead? Isn’t that the point of PR? In most instances, yes, but it’s only a small sliver of a company’s external messaging. Because of this new world of information sharing and audience fragmentation, it is important that the messaging in advertising, media (in a PR domain), product packaging, internal and external memos, etc. be consistent. Many corporations are still siloed, with marketing, media relations and packaging executives rarely talking to one another, especially when it comes to coordinating and collaborating. All of these different areas are now indeed connected. The message must be consistent from end to end.

Let’s take a peek at how your message might be consumed: An advertising message can prompt someone to do a Google search, which finds your product because your site was properly SEO-optimized and press releases helped you get – and sustain – that ranking. That person signs up for a webinar using the same language found in the ad but to a greater depth, and then shares the findings with a colleague. At the end of the day, a discussion breaks out in the boardroom and someone says, “I remember hearing about this problem in company X’s webinar. Maybe we should give them a call.” This is how today’s world of media consumption works. It doesn’t always happen in this order; in fact, every interaction is unique, like a snowflake among snowflakes. Any one of these people could have seen your CEO on the “Today” show first, or found you on the web. They could have read an article that reviews your company in Forbes or met one of your executives on a train. All of these scenarios are possible, and that is why it is important that the messaging language you use is consistent among everyone and every channel. Everything and everyone is connected, which is why we found the need to create Connected CommunicationsSM, an approach that fuses the best of traditional media, direct engagement, marketing and digital strategies into measurable payoffs for your business goals.

So if you are a PR pro reading this, give your marketing person a ring. If you are a communications person, connect with your strategy person. If you are a CEO reading this, then please call a meeting with all of your executives to ensure a concrete, constant message is being used throughout the company. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to start: just start. If you need help, feel free to drop me a line.

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What an incredibly myopic and antiquated view of public relations. Almost laughable, Jim. Our firm (LT Public Relations) would welcome the opportunity to debate this erroneous article (aside from simply posting this comment).

You assume that PR is simply media relations or news releases (or the like). “Connected Communications” is a cute moniker for what is really what public relations is in its true form. True PR (traditional and new) is an invaluable resource (if performed well) for a business to have “relationships” with its “public.” We’re business story tellers and help manage the public’s perception of a business or organization.

Yes, media is a conduit to having this relationship, but so is community involvement, internal communications, grassroots connections, local government relations, social media, etc.

That’s right…PR owns social media. Social media is a communications vehicle for businesses to listen, learn and respond to the public (not to advertise and market). Reputable PR professionals already know and adopt this and have transformed their practice over the past 3-5 years to champion this effort. A steady mix of new and “traditional” PR has not only made this profession more valuable to businesses, we’re breathing life into ways businesses can connect and communicate with their target audience.

The only thing that is dead is your outdated way of thinking about PR.

What an incredibly myopic and antiquated view of public relations. Almost laughable, Jim. Our firm (LT Public Relations) would welcome the opportunity to debate this erroneous article (aside from simply posting this comment).

You assume that PR is simply media relations or news releases (or the like). “Connected Communications” is a cute moniker for what is really what public relations is in its true form. True PR (traditional and new) is an invaluable resource (if performed well) for a business to have “relationships” with its “public.” We’re business story tellers and help manage the public’s perception of a business or organization.

Yes, media is a conduit to having this relationship, but so is community involvement, internal communications, grassroots connections, government relations, social media, etc.

That’s right…PR owns social media. Social media is a communications vehicle for businesses to listen, learn and respond to the public (not to advertise and market). Reputable PR professionals already know and adopt this and have transformed their practice over the past 3-5 years to champion this effort. A steady mix of new and “traditional” PR has not only made this profession more valuable to businesses, we’re breathing life into ways businesses can connect and communicate with their target audience.

The only thing that is dead is your outdated way of thinking about PR.

Thanks for commenting, I’m always up for discussion and would be happy to address you by name if you provide it.

In essence, what you are saying falls in line with what I am saying in the article, but I think the word choice, most notably “Public Relations” is where the friction is.

Dozens of corporations still silo public relations, marketing, advertising and other communications functions. Many of these professionals don’t coordinate and many pigeon hole public relations in the “myopic” way you pointed out. So how do we tear down these walls? We have to start by eliminating the words that divide, such a public relations, marketing, advertising, etc. The core mission of these professionals, as you define it, “to tell a business story,” is interrelated. They cannot stand alone. Based on your commentary, I think you agree.

Shouldn’t the message that goes out in social media (which you say “public relations” owns) have a content strategy that matches the rest of the organization’s external communications? Social media for social media’s sake is inefficient and often ineffective. A firm’s advertising arm should be influenced by social media, which is run by people who are familiar with engagement, the business goals and the audience they are trying to reach. That, in turn, is influenced by marketing research, data and the like. No one practice area can truly “own” any communications method.

As you pointed out, many smart agencies have begun to evolve and adapt. They have to. The opportunity, and the challenge, is in the organizational structures that most American businesses currently operate.

As a PR pro, I always get a little annoyed with the argument that “PR is Dead.” I almost didn’t read, but figured I would see if this story was different. I’m glad I did.

I see your point about Connected Communications and, it’s true, as PR pros, we need to be more connected and working hand-in-hand with marketing. However, good PR pros will already work with marketing/communications pros.

If we aren’t working as a team, it will not matter what message you are trying to get out.

Inflammatory headlines are so 2009. I’m with Jason Mollica, good PR teams are already integrating themselves with others.

Is PR dead? I feel your view of what media relations people do might be skewed. I understand you have a very deep career in journalism, but I’m not sure you understand what many PR firms do on the back end.

Yes, the bad ones spam the media with alerts and releases that aren’t targeted. But the good PR practitioners build relationships with the media on behalf of their clients, helping them become a trusted source for comment on appropriate topics.

Yes, the connected world will change the way we consume news, but we’ll also need gatekeepers on the side of the media putting the correct information out there. Sometimes, those gatekeepers come to us.

Since you called out your firm, I’ll call out ours. We have strong experience building traditional PR and social media campaigns for a variety of brands, from those in the defense and tech industries to the action sports world and youth marketing subsets.

Want to connect? Drop us a line through our site http://remedycomm.com/

Thanks for giving it a read. I think your actions as a professional speak louder than words; in that you decided to read the article instead of judging. That is a true test (in my opinion at least) of a professional.

The “good ones” are trying to work together. I am not too worried about the professionals, but the organizations that hire and employ those professionals. It is up to various executives to realize the need for this collaboration and bring in “the good ones” to make sure it happens.

Thanks for the note. I understand your comment about having a potential “skewed view” and no one can ever claim to be 100% non-biased. But there is one thing I want to highlight in your response. The building of relationships with the media and becoming a trusted source for comments. This is very important – but it is very important tactically. There will always be a need for gatekeepers. My point? Where do those gatekeepers fit into the organization? Are they there to just give commentary, or they right there in the strategy meeting so their commentary is in line with business goals? Do they have a say? I don’t want my message to be construed as a call to eliminate important tactics. The commentary or “gatekeeping” that you mention can influence other marketing, advertising and branding opportunities. They’re all connected.

Thanks for the response Jim. I’m biased as well, having worked at integrated agencies for 15 years.

Putting “PR is Dead” as a headline is going to incite interesting responses.

The last five years, we’ve maintained our value with existing and potential clients by offering up new ideas that go beyond what is traditionally PR or media relations. As ‘blogs’ became influential, we worked with lifestyle brands to make sure they were embraced. With social media, we’ve been utilized for everything from ghost Tweeting to managing pages and simply helping craft messages in line with our clients’ voices.

PR is different things to different people. Yes, the person who checks you in at the gym or skatepark is a ‘pr’ person of sorts, but that’s typically not the sort of work PR firms are engaged in.

Good PR firms don’t just play nice in the trusted partner sandbox, they show up with tools to help build it.

Jim, your article promoting your product Connected Communications would have been much more effective if it was written by someone other than yourself.

PR works best when OTHER PEOPLE — not yourself, praise your products.

Here’s an example I share with my clients…you walk up to a restaurant and see a newspaper clip taped in the window that says “They have the best steaks in town!” That’s much, much different that the owner taping up a sign in the window saying “WE have the best steaks in town!”

Today’s PR efforts focus too much on talking, tweeting, blogging about yourselves and not enough on working with the top journalists that are respected by your customers.

I would have been more intrigued by the concept of Connected Communications if a Forbes reporter had penned the article. You writing about yourself? Not so much.

The relationship between PR, marketing, sales and other parts of the organization should have always been there. In good, strong companies, the PR department is very involved with the executive team, marketing, etc. because public relations encompasses how an organization relates to all of its publics (employees, investors, etc.). I’m glad you’re pointing out the importance of this integration for those people who don’t understand it.